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Oklahoma basketball: Lon Kruger, Steve Fisher are old friends

Steve Fisher and Lon Kruger have an on-court relationship that dates back to the late 1990s.

Kruger, now the coach at Oklahoma, said this week that his first game against Fisher, who coaches San Diego State, was when Kruger was at Illinois and Fisher coached Michigan.

NCAA TOURNAMENT / COLLEGE BASKETBALL: University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) head basketball coach Lon Kruger greets fans as his team leaves The Lloyd Noble Center on Wednesday, March 20, 2013 in Norman, Okla for their first round game in the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Photo by Steve Sisney, The Oklahoman ORG XMIT: SSOK101

Regardless, the two coaches — one a rebuilder, the other a national champion — are close. Fisher and Kruger texted several times this season — including congratulatory texts after San Diego State defeated UCLA in early December and Oklahoma defeated Kansas in early February.

Fisher has said before that they are “true friends,” and Kruger mentioned that his wife, Barbara, and Fisher's wife, Angie, are also close. The two coaches both agreed this week, via text message, that they'll be glad to see each other in Philadelphia, but not so much to play each other, according to Kruger. The Sooners and Aztecs meet in an NCAA Tournament first-round game on Friday night.

Fisher has won the last five head-to-head meetings between the two.

Kruger called their relationship “great” and said he is impressed with what Fisher has done with the Aztecs.

“He does such a good job at San Diego State,” Kruger said. “People kind of forget that when he went there, there was no interest. The job that he's done in the 11 or 12 years since he's been there is phenomenal. They went from having no crowds to being sold out every ballgame and a great homecourt advantage. That's all due to him and his staff and they job that they've done. He's done a fantastic job.”